


No Man is an Island

by asexualjuliet



Series: Haunted by the Past [5]
Category: Everwood
Genre: Bright Abbott has PTSD, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, discussion of panic attacks, discussion of trauma, good dad harold!!!, i love you good dad harold!!!, thats right everyone i’m back on my bullshit!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29277612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet
Summary: “I might have PTSD,” Bright says, fast, like ripping off a bandaid. He can’t force himself to look his dad in the eye.Or, Bright talks to his dad.
Relationships: Bright Abbott & Harold Abbott
Series: Haunted by the Past [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838590
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	No Man is an Island

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me. 
> 
> jfjfjfjs i have no excuses for putting this off for so long. This was always gonna be the next part of the series so idk why it took me six months to decide to finally write it. good thing no one actually reads everwood fic anymore lmao. also i have no idea what the next part of this series will be so... prepare for me to take over six months next time
> 
> anyway. hope you enjoy <3

It takes him two days to work up the nerve to talk to his dad. 

Even then, he’s absolutely fucking terrified. 

“I need to tell you something,” he says, when Mom’s out and Amy’s at Laynie’s and he sits at the kitchen counter as his dad makes a turkey sandwich next to him. 

His dad looks up, eyebrows raised. “Oh?” he says. 

Bright opens his mouth to speak, but the words won’t leave his throat. 

He tries again. “I—”

“Take your time,” his father says. 

Bright takes a deep breath; runs his hands over his face. 

“I think I—I mean, Dr. Brown said I might—I mean—”

His father puts down his sandwich and puts a hand on Bright’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he says. 

“I might have PTSD,” he says, fast, like ripping off a bandaid. He can’t force himself to look his dad in the eye. 

“Like, I went to Dr. Brown, and he said it was, like, likely, but that I should talk to you about it, and I really didn’t want to, but—”

“Hey,” says his father. “Breathe. Take your time, it’s okay.”

“I don’t know what else to say,” Bright says, finally daring to look up at his dad. Given his reaction when Amy asked to go on antidepressants, Bright doesn’t know how he’ll take this. 

But there’s nothing but sympathy in his eyes. 

“You had a panic attack,” he says slowly. “A few months after the accident. You were driving Amy to her friend’s house, and…” he trails off. 

“Yeah,” says Bright, unsure of what else to say. 

“Does that happen a lot?” 

Bright shrugs. “Yeah,” he says again. 

“I didn’t—” his father says, cutting himself off. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice.” 

“I didn’t want you to,” Bright tells him. “I thought I was losing my mind.” He thinks about it for a second, and adds, “I still kind of think I’m losing my mind.”

“Hey,” his father says. “You’re not losing your mind.”

Bright shrugs. 

_ “Bright.  _ Look at me.”

Bright meets his father’s eyes, trying to ignore the tears pricking at his own. 

“You aren’t losing your mind,” his dad says. “You went through a traumatic experience, and this is your brain’s way of trying to protect you from another one.”

“It fucking  _ sucks,”  _ says Bright, choking out a sob as tears start to roll down his face, and his father wraps him in a hug. 

“It’s okay,” he says, as Bright dissolves into tears. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, son.”

They stay like that for a while, Harold’s arms around his son as Bright sobs into his shoulder. 

“Sorry,” Bright says after a few minutes, pulling away and wiping his eyes. “I just—”

“It’ll be okay,” his dad tells him, cutting off his apology. “You’ll get through it.”

Bright gives a slight smile, because for the first time in a while, he actually kind of believes that he will. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> All mistakes are my own, please let me know if you see any!
> 
> Kudos/Comments are greatly appreciated!


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